54' Tasmanian Cutter-Rigged Fishing Boat (1925) - STORM BAY

The ten-year restoration of Storm Bay took place at The Wooden Boatshop in Sorrento.

Originally designed by Alfred Blore, Storm Bay was built by renowned Tasmanian shipwright Percy Coverdale in his yard at Nubeena, south of Hobart. George Bridge, the patriarch of a well-known family and third-generation fisherman working from Hobart commissioned her design and build.

She was launched in Hobart in July 1925.

Of her launch The Mercury reported:

“…Storm Bay is a very handsome addition to the Tasmanian fishing fleet. Looking at the smack as she stands at present she resembles a cruising yacht rather than a fishing vessel – her lines are graceful and she should prove to be speedy under sail.”

Purpose-built Storm Bay was George’s last boat and built at a time when the Tasmanian fishing industry was at its peak. The Bridges’ worked and immaculately maintained Storm Bay until 1963. Storm Bay was their pride and joy.

Jim Bridge recalls:

“It was not an easy job using such a lovely boat as a working fishing boat but George insisted that she be well cared for during this period of her life… especially with her yachting lines when speed did not help a well full of fish or heavy wash across her decks would quickly remove dinghy, nets, and sundry fishing gear quite quickly!!”

Through a succession of three different owners from 1965 to mid-1980s Storm Bay worked out of St. Helens in northeastern Tasmania as a cray fishing boat, she also had a stint serving abalone divers, and even had a scallop dredge on her stern for a time. Along the way she acquired a wheelhouse, had her topmast set down and generally had her rig reduced.

By 1996 she was all but completely dilapidated and had returned to the piers at Constitution Dock in Hobart, albeit in an entirely different condition to her early years.